Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I know exactly what the Deputy is saying, but I am not sure how we could fix it, as we do not categorise claims as they come in on the basis of people's means. They are classified according to the date they come in and dealt with sequentially. I acknowledge that there are people who are financially pressed when they are waiting for an application to be approved. The community welfare office system genuinely reaches out and, I hope, helps or looks after people in such a period, whether it is eight, ten or 14 weeks. It might be very difficult to classify recipients according to this status of means from an information technology perspective. It might not be fair if people could skip the queue in that way. I know that the Deputy has helped many people and that where there is a genuine need, it must be met by community welfare services.

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